New Orleans Volunteer Orchestra

Founded on March 17^th, 2012, the New Orleans Volunteer Orchestra or N.O.V.O. has since given two performances, both entirely free. Composed entirely of volunteers running the gamut between local high school students and seasoned professionals, and self-​organized by Loyola students, this orchestra looks to introduce players and hungry-​eared listeners alike to the world of symphonic music through a mix of contemporary movie soundtracks and classical favorites of old for the affordable price of FREE.
I wish I could have witnessed the very first performance, but I do feel very fortunate I got to witness the second and most recent one on November 9^th, with the theme of «space». Starting with a suite of Star Wars music from Episodes 1 – 3, they moved on to play Holst’s Mars and Jupiter, as well as a piece from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Ravel.
For lovers of orchestral music such as a myself, it was a real treat. Though shorter than a standard visit to a symphony, being entirely free and performed entirely by volunteers, you won’t hear a single complaint from me about the duration. It also ended with a reception of complimentary food and drink where we were all even able to mingle with the orchestra members.
My hats off to all those in the orchestra for adding such wonderful music to the world, purely for the joy of the symphony experience. If you ask me, New Orleans is a rare place where something like this would spontaneously appear and take root, and seems to represent another facet of what is so wondrous about this city and its immortal musicality.
I highly recommend catching future performances and you can definitely do that by keeping an eye on them via their Facebook page:
as I now do.
For the love of music! (standing ovation)